Leaving
by Orphia
Summary: Spoilers for chapter 224 of manga, you have been warned. Gray has made his choice. There is no going back now. (probably a one-shot, unless I do a Juvia chapter) (Now not a one-shot, 3-4 chapters likely)
1. 1 Leaving

**My version of why Gray left. He better get his butt back to Juvia and Fairy Tail soon. **

This was the only way. Night after night he had pondered and hesitated, for fear and selfishness more than anything else, but tonight he had courage. That I why it had to be tonight.

He would have laughed at his own naivety, 6 months ago, were the consequences not so dire. The stakes not so incredibly high. He had honestly believed that he could go out, find the demon and defeat it. He had thought it would be dangerous of course, difficult. Possibly fatal. Yet he had considered END a practical goal. He had not though what he would have to sacrifice to meet it.

Thus, he had made an error. An unforgivable mistake, with foresight. He had let another follow his path, ease his burden. He had let her hope and smile and believe in him, of all the things to have faith in, him. He had let her optimism cloud his judgement. No more. No more would the people he loved pay for his mistakes. Never again. She would be safe, find happiness elsewhere, live in blissful ignorance if need be. He would not let her be hurt. Not by him, not for him, not to get to him. He would give her liberty, his fragile butterfly, he would save her the only way he knew how.

Those six months… A reprieve, no more. Her companionship had kept him sane, her smile, the kindness welling up in those endless eyes, her compassion. Her love. At least in that he had shielded her. He had not let himself give in, no matter what he felt. He could not. But still his heart would not stop. And the thing… the mark… It could feel it too and it hated her for it. Whispering in his head like a dripping tap of venom, seemingly insignificant but building up over time. He didn't have the strength to stop the flow.

_You're so weak, boy. No wonder you've needed so much saving._

_You want to hunt down Zeref? You couldn't even handle a fight with one demon alone. Without me._

_Why do you deny your nature? You're a killer and you know it. A coward. A traitor to your own soul. Why deny me?_

_That girl. Why do you put up with her? The weak simpering bitch… We could snap her neck, and she would stop. It would all stop. But no… Then we wouldn't get to hear her scream…_

No! He wouldn't hurt her. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her.

_Like you didn't let anyone hurt Ur? Or Ultear? Or your precious parents and sweet little village? Don't you remember she MURDERED your father? Don't you want vengeance boy?_

He died long ago. She released him from his torment. She saved him.

_Did she now? Is that why you wept so, little boy? Do you remember what she was before? She would have killed your guild mates without a second thought! She is worthless._

That wasn't Juvia. That was beyond her control. Juvia wouldn't hurt anyone.

_So weak and boring. I think we should play with her, don't you? Make her sing for us?_

I won't let you.

_Sweet. You think you have a choice. You have no strength left boy. Not without me._

The pain, the exhaustion… He had left each day to try to confront it. To defeat this shadow that kept tearing at his soul. Yet he was too weak. Again he was the child trying to fight an abomination. As helpless as that angry little boy had been. He could feel the darkness spreading, and even the solace in the oasis they had made themselves was not enough to turn back this tide. Even Juvia of the deep could not stop this tsunami of malevolence. The worry, the fear in her eyes. That was all the motivation he needed to keep her safe. Even if she wouldn't know why.

So he had decided to leave her, in this place of safety. To keep her far away from demons, and END, and Zeref. Far from him. She could find her other friends. He had heard Gajeel was about somewhere, Cana too. Levy, Mira, Lucy, Wendy she would be safe with any of them. The eye of the storm could not find her. He could not find her. She would be safe.

So in the night, whilst his resolve still remained, he took what little he needed from their stores. Their house. Their life. All hers now. He opened her door a slither and gazed at her sleeping form, bathed in moonlight, barely breathing. Those shallow breaths, so precious to him, each more valuable than the last. She slept so peacefully, like waves lapping the shore, embracing it gently with each wave. Her blue hair splayed out messily on the pillow like fronds of kelp. A slight smile on her lips, still so much hope, so much potential left in her. He drank it all in, to freeze in his memories. To hold close when all else failed. Cautiously, hesitantly, he crept to her side, terrified to wake her. Luckily, she was in too deep for that. Patiently, yet so sorrowfully, he pressed his cold lips to her smooth forehead. In her sleep her smile widened a little. Brushing her face, so pale in this light, like marble, with his icy hand one last time, he left. Pausing at the door, he thought some more. His hands clasped together he performed the spell, and out of a crack grew a single rose, completely of ice. The fragile perfection of each petal a fitting metaphor for her hope. Long may it bloom. She might never see it, tucked away as it was, but it brought him comfort to know it was there. He did not leave her completely alone.

Ghost-like he fled the little town, with its familiar comforts, its safety. It was home and he could not come back unless he had saved his home. Saved himself too.

There was one last thing to be done. He knew there was a skilled memory mage in Hargeon. He would need to enlist his services. As long as he knew where Juvia was, so did the shadow. He could hear it still, muttering under his breath. That was not acceptable. He would forget. Not her face, not her love. He could not quite manage that, but he would forget where she was. He would forget how to find her. He could not come back.

She would be safe.


	2. 2 Coming Home

2\. Coming Home

"Juvia won't let you hurt anyone else."

Standing tall, proud, facing into the wind it was hard to believe she was still wracked with fever, too weak to stand just moments ago. Her face a marble statue of some warrior queen, fearsome and determined. This was the steadfast resolve that had forced a dragon slayer to surrender, once at the Grand Magic Games, once to allow her to come with them to face Avatar, to let her be the one to fight Gray. It hadn't been easy. She would not let him down now, or the guild they were reforming. She would not let down her Gray-sama. Foresake the blue sky. The man before her was not her Gray-sama, but she would bring him back. That was her purpose, her promise, and Juvia always kept her word. Behind her, her nakama were taking down the henchmen, but her purpose was right in front of her.

"_Juvia won't let me? Such a pity. I so wanted you permission."_

The voice that used her beloved's lips was cruel and soft and weedling, completely alien to her. It trapped and caught each word like it was biting at flies. How dare it defile her Gray-sama? How dare it take him away from her?

Juvia's element may have been water, but right now fire was her overriding emotion, coursing through her veins, blazing in her eyes. Inside her soul was an inferno, a supernova of heat and passion and despair. She would not lose him this time.

Her words, when they came, were deceptively calm, like the sea pulling in from the shore, retreating before a tsunami comes roaring back in. "Juvia knows Gray-sama can hear her. She knows he is still fighting you. He will not give up on this life. He will fight for his friends and his guild, because that is who he is." As she said these words, her oceanic blue eyes met his demonic red. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but those eyes seemed to flicker for a moment. Just a heartbeat. Just enough to give her hope.

"_He is GONE! There is only me. There is no one here for you to save." _The man grinned mirthlessly, whilst inside a voice that had gone almost silent became ever so slightly audible, a buzzing in the back of the mind, small but relentless. Before it could increase in volume, the thing went for an attack.

_"Ice shrapnel!"_

Shards of ice, sharp as knives and fast as bullets hurtled through the air towards Juvia's comrades behind her. Faster still was her response, fast as thought, she created a shield of water that stole their momentum, letting them fall harmlessly to the ground.

"No!" she said, as she slashed at him with boiling water whips, "This fight is you and Juvia. No one else." She thrust her arms out and pulled them above her head, yelling "Water Sphere!" Huge waves of water swelled, forming a boiling sphere which closed off their battle from all outsiders. "Face Juvia now!"

"_I think you need to cool off, rain woman."  
_Ice blasted into the uncomfortably warm battle bubble, partially freezing it, until the whole dome was a swirling mass of water and ice; a complex dance of the elements.

One which they proceeded to replicate.

There was no clear victor, as ice met water. Juvia was using her water body to the limit, spiralling and twisting in midair, dodging and weaving with the speed and grace of a peregrin falcon. Attacking with the deadly precision of a praying mantis. The raw power of her opponent's attacks were enough to tire her though, particularly in her weakened state. Studying the fight it was clear that the versatility and creativity which used to define his style was gone, replaced with this (admittedly effective) full force blasting. Try as he might however, he could not freeze her.

_"Stronger than I expected, little fairy. Such a pity I have to clip your wings. Demon slay- icy darkness!"_

What emerged from his palms was not ice in the traditional sense. It had an unnatural glisten, almost like oil. It looked like it would ooze, yet was hard like diamond. When it spread and touched the water that surrounded them, it would hiss and fizz like concentrated acid. This was definitely not Gray-sama's ice.

Juvia attempted to maintain her evasive tactics, but every time this new ice clipped her, she felt her skin blister and scorch and the air would gain the repellent stench of her own flesh being seared. It was all she could do to keep from collapsing in pain. "Not nice is it?" The man grinned mercilessly, hiding the growing fight within him, as the legendary stubbornness of Fairy Tail tried to gain power within his consciousness. If the shadow needed full concentration to take Juvia down, then Gray was determined that was the one thing it would not have.

"Juvia pities you." She whimpered through the pain, still dodging and firing her attacks, though she was on the floor now.

"_What?! What nonsense is this? Or is it for your beloved Gray? He's dead now dear. Don't waste your last thoughts on him! He abandoned you, or had you forgotten" _Gray's face leered at her, but not Gray's face. It was wrong and it sickened her to look at it, him, but not him.

Juvia rose to her feet. She looked him in the eye and she laughed. "You truly do not understand." She smiled as the water swirled around her, purposeful, but restrained, like wolves waiting to attack. "Juvia has love and friendship and loyalty. She knows what these things mean. You have nothing. Not even a body." She looked at him contemptuously. "Even then, you are second best. If I were fighting Gray this would already be over."

The hatred rising in both participants was tangible in the air. The ice became darker, the water more intense. _"I might have spared you. You have some power. We could have worked together, you and I." _He looked at her in the same way one might look at a fly that had evaded you too many times, just out of reach. And now his little fly was ambushed. His contempt was enough to lower the surrounding temperature, and if Juvia was not in water form, she would be at serious risk of hypothermia. As it was, she was using too much energy keeping herself from freezing. She needed to end this soon.

From deep behind the eyes of the creature, Gray saw the same thing. He was ready too. A double pronged attack, that might just be enough… It would cost him, but that was rather the point.


	3. 3 Solace

Chapter 3- Solace

Juvia faced her opponent, readying herself. Without warning she went in for the kill "Gray-sama wings of love attack!" The irony was not lost on either combatant. One found however, that their defences were suddenly weakened. In fact some of the ice cast was curving back to hit its caster. Combined with the tidal wave assaulting him, the demon was losing control of his own magic. He could not fight this war on two fronts. He faltered, giving Juvia all the openings she needed. As he struggled, the temperature rose, lending Juvia the advantage. She made her attacks of saltwater, which was harder to freeze and kept going. She had nothing left to lose, she could go all out, drain herself dry if necessary. This was her one goal. Her life was nothing more than this victory.

Gray was fighting just as hard within, from subtly altering the trajectory of attacks, so they missed their target, to a full on mental assault. If he was going to die, the he was going to be in control of his own body. He was going to get his chance to explain, to apologise.

"_You can't possibly fight me!"_ proclaimed his voice, from his mouth. Which opponent he was addressing was not immediately clear. The fear in his voice however, that showed the falseness of his words. As did the retreat of the darkness on his skin, fading like ink diluted with too much water.

Assault after assault came at the battered body that had once belonged to Gray Fullbuster. Nothing could possibly withstand that much rage, that much passion. Juvia was fighting for her love and that always made her stronger. Gray was fighting for the lives of his comrades, he would not fall again to the spirit that had stolen his. He never lost to the same opponent twice, and this was not the day to start.

The body fell to the floor, with a sickening crunch. This time it did not rise. Juvia ran forwards, to discover if it held friend or foe, only for a shaking hand to press a sword of ice into her palm, and carefully position the tip against his heart. Slowly and deliberately, his shuddering breathes and dark eyes answered her querying eyes wordlessly. Juvia knelt, with his head safely in her lap.

"Just do it Juvia! Whilst I can still hold it off" Gray managed, each word costing him far more than he could ever afford. He was doing the impossible, holding off the tide. A price would have to be paid.

"Juvia won't!" she sobbed, clutching him to her as her tears fell lightly on his face. His clear, unshadowed face.

"Please Juvia, just let me go." He stared at her, pleading. Hoping with all his being that she loved him enough to do this one thing for him.

She dropped the sword with a clang, as it shattered into snowflakes. "Never." Such a short word, but with such certainty. Such fire. He stroked her hair with his left hand soothingly.

"I can't stop it forever. It'll come back and I can't … I won't hurt anyone else." He looked up into her eyes. Those eyes. He wished he'd spent more time looking at them, there was so much depth to them.

"What if there was another way?" she grasped his too cold hands desperately in her own.

"There isn't." He wished he didn't have to ask her to do this, but the mission, the fate of the world was more important than either of them. More important than her, though he was loath to admit it.

"There might be."

The voice of Captain Gajeel Redfox of the magic council joined the intimate scene as he forced his way through the now collapsing dome.

"So you're not still psycho, stripper? Pity. I was looking forward to beating you up." He shrugged nonchalantly, placing a hand on Juvia's shaking shoulders. "Although you did make Juvia cry." He examined the scene. "Hmm, she might have beat you up enough for that herself."

Natsu, Lucy, Wendy and the exceeds forced themselves through the gap, Avatar having been summarily beaten. Vengeance was a fairly powerful motivater, and these mages comfortably outclassed most of Fiore. Parting made the heart grow fonder, and the guild grow stronger.

"Juvia! Gray! You're okay!" Lucy rushed to hug her friends, whilst Natsu hung back, still wary of the man, he considered one of his best friends. Someone (ordinarily) he would trust with his own life, and (more importantly) the lives of his nakama. That he could no longer was a weight on an already heavy soul.

"Gajeel has the answer?" Juvia looked up at her oldest friend with bright eyes. Her faith in him was absolute.

"Maybe. You hear stuff working for the council. Besides, I know a shrimp that knows pretty much everything about possession." He ruffled Juvia's hair protectively.

"You mean Levy?" Lucy brightened up at the mention of her favourite book club buddy.

"Top marks blondie. You'll be needing her anyway if we stick to Salamander's plan, Mavis help us."

Natsu looked to Gajeel in surprise. "You mean you're coming with us? I thought you joined the council!" That last word was said in a tone normally reserved for radioactive waste mixed with raw sewage. There may or may not have also been a shudder from the fire dragon slayer.

"I've always been more of a free spirit. Gee-hee." This was free spirit defined in a rather specific way, involving rather more property damage than the council had bargained for when taking on one of the Fairy Tail dragon-slayers. The idiots.

Gajeel flexed his arms. "I'm keeping the cloak though. The cloak is cool."

Pantherlily nodded in agreement with his friend's decision. If Fairy Tail was making a comeback, then all of the dragon-slayers better help out. He was going to keep his cape too. Going round corners had never been so dramatic.

Wendy was kneeled next to Juvia, who had insisted Gray be treated first, but he adamantly refused. She was starting to see what Porly meant about the pig-headed stubbornness of her fellow guild mates.

She rested her fingertips along her friend's temples, letting the magic flow. "The fever! It's gone down!" Had her magic finally started working on Juvia's mysterious illness?

Juvia nodded, still holding her Gray-sama. "When the marks faded, Juvia felt her strength improve."

The reunited team exchanged glances. Could it be that Juvia's health was lined to the demon? If so then Gray wasn't the only one they had to consider. Gajeel clutched her shoulder again, gripping a little harder than was comfortable.

Wendy moved onto the ice-mage, who was struggling. Demanding they abandon him for the sake of the guild. Wendy placed her hands on his wounds and they sealed as he collapsed

"Gray!" Juvia cradled his face in her arms and the rest of the group moved in with concern.

"Just sleeping" Wendy clarified, in answer to their concern, "I thought it might be the easiest way to transport him." She blushed at the technically unethical use of her healing magic. She was pretty sure preventing suicide was fairly extenuating circumstances, all things considered.


End file.
